Card selecting apparatus



Jan. 26, 1960 SCOTT CARD SELECTING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 22, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 5 P; .1 J97? i 4 JJBJ 6 12 1276JBF7 5 1 h 2/ INVENTOR.

j t/"ariz'n 56022" Jan. 26, 1960 M. scoTT CARD SELECTING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 22, 1955 INVENTOR.

Jan. 26, 1960 M. SCOTT CARD SELECTING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 22, 1955 INVENTOR. /YaV/ZIZ J'a'azzf United States Patent G CARD SELEQTING APPARATUS Martin Scott, Valhalla, NSC, assignor to Scott Machining, Inc., White Plains, N.Y., a corporation of New York Application December 22, 1955, Serial No. 554,769

8 Claims. (Cl. 12.9-16.1)

This invention relates in general to card filing and selecting apparatus of the type wherein a card selecting mechanism is mounted for movement at the will of the operator into card-selecting relation to any one of a plurality of card-supporting baskets or racks.

A prime object of the invention is to provide a card selecting apparatus which shall embody novel and improved features of construction whereby a plurality of card-containing baskets or racks can be mounted and supported for any desired length of time, a card selector shall be movable selectively into operative relation to any one of said racks or baskets and any basket may be actuated to move its card into and out of card selecting relation to said selector, all quickly and with a minimum of effort on the part of the operator.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus of this character which shall comprise a novel and improved combination of a frame for supporting a plurality of card-containing baskets or racks, means for movably mounting a card selector including card selecting 1nech anism on said frame for movement selectively into cardselecting relation to any one of said baskets or racks, and means for supporting the racks or baskets with the cards above the selector and for lowering a selected rack or basket to position the cards in proper relation to the selector for selecting or segregating of the desired cards from the other cards in said basket or rack.

A further object is to provide novel and improved means for mounting a plurality of card-containing racks or baskets for vertical movement, and manually operable means for easily and quickly lowering and raising each basket or rack at the will of the operator.

Other objects, advantages and results of the invention will be brought out by the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a top plan View of a card selecting apparatus embodying the invention, showing the card selector and one rack of cards in card-selecting relation to each other and other racks in their normal positions;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the apparatus as shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view approximately on the plane of the line 33 of Figure 1 with portions of the card selector shown in side elevation and portions of the card selecting mechanism broken Fignlre 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view approximately on the plane of the line 4-4 of Figure 1 with parts omitted and with the card selector shown in end elevation with portions broken awa;

Figure 5 is a similar view approximately on the plane of the line 55 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of portions of the frame, the card selector, the carriage for the card selector, one card rack and the means for raising and lowering the rack in the frame; and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the frame and the actuator for the rack supportrigidly connected to said rails.

ing means, viewed approximately from the plane of the line 7--7 of Figure 6.

Specifically describing the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the card-selecting apparatus comprises a main frame A that has horizontal longitudinally extend ing front and rear bars 1 and 2, respectively, that are connected by end bars 3 to form an opening for receiving a plurality of racks, baskets or carriers B each to contain a plurality of record cards or the like C. The rectangular frame thus formed has a leg 4 at each corner thereof. Preferably said opening in the frame is divided by cross bars 5 between the front and rear bars, into a plurality of sub-openings 6 each to removably receive one of the racks B. The bars 5 also efiectively rein force the frame and serve as supports for guide fingers '7 for the racks B.

While the card racks B may be constructed as desired, the now preferred form comprises two strips or rails 8 that are connected at their ends by inverted U-shaped Wire end pieces 9 between which are a plurality of inverted U-shaped wire card separators 9a whose ends are The end pieces are of a length to freely slide between the guide fingers 7 at opposite sides of the corresponding sub-openings and at opposite ends of said sub-opening as clearly shown in Figures 1, 4 and 6; and each end piece has a cross rod 10 to engage the respective rack supporting studs 11 and 12 at the front and rear of the frame.

In accordance with the invention, each rack is normally supported in the frame A with the lower edges of its cards in approximately a common plane above the top plane of a card selector D that is mounted on a carriage E which in turn is rollably supported on the frame A for movement selectively into card-sorting relation to any one of the racks B. For the purpose of illustration I have shown a card selector of the same general type as the apparatus described in United States Patents Nos. 1,846,679, 2,002,807 and 2,002,808.

Inasmuch as the particular type of card selecting mechanism forms no part of my invention, I shall only generally describe the card selector. It is shown as comprising a box-like casing 13 in which are arranged a plurality of horizontal selecting bars 14 that are adjustably supported by rods 15, the bars having inclined slots 15' through which said rods pass. A plurality of finger keys 16 bearing suitable indicia, are p-ivotally mounted between their ends at 17 and have their other ends engaging the'respective bars 14 so that when one or more of the finger keys are operated, the bars 14 actuated by the keys will move into upper or selecting position as shown at X in Figure 5.

On the lower edges of the cards C are magnetic strips 18 having a plurality of spaced lugs 19, corresponding in number and position to the bars 14, and near the ends of the cards at their lower edges are notches 20 that fit over the rails 8 of the card racks. The cards are of lesser width than the inner width of the space between the side walls of the selector casing 13 (Figure 5) and electro magnetic mechanism generally designated 21 is provided to cooperate with the magnetic strips at the lower edges of the cards. The cards are indexed in different ways but in the present instance certain of the lugs 19 are removed as shown in Figure 5, and when it is desired to select certain cards from one of the racks, the rack is .lowered so that its bottom rails 8 enter guide slots 13' in The selector D is used for selecting cards in any of the racks, at the will of the operator and as shown the carriage for the selector is roughly channel shaped and the selector is slidable into and out of the carriage from the front end thereof (Figures 3, land 6), there being a stop flange 3d at the rear end of the carriage to limit sliding of the selector into the carriage and thus accurately position the selector lengthwise with respect to the card racks. At each end of the carriage are inturned arms 31 on which are journaled rollers 32 which are mounted to roll on the upper surfaces of the lower flanges of the front and rear channel bars 1 and 2 (Figures 3 and 4) so that the selector may be rolled lengthwise of the frame into the proper position beneath any one of the card racks for selecting or sorting the cards in said rack. For indexing the carriage, or to accurately position the carriage laterally with respect to the card racks, the lower flange of the front channel bar 1 has a plurality of properly spaced notches 33 into which the rollers 31 drop by gravity when the carriage reaches the proper position with respect to a selected card rack.

Now specifically describing the rack supporting and manipulating mechanism for mounting and for raising and lowering the card racks, the lug 12 is shown as projecting inwardly of the frame from an arm 22 that is rigidly connected to and extends radially from a rock shaft 23 whose ends are journaled in the front and rear frame bars 1 and 2. The stud 11 projects inwardly of the frame from an arm 24 that is rigidly connected to and projects radially from the rock shaft at the other end thereof. As above described the studs 11 and 12 underlie the respective cross rods of the corresponding card rack (Figure 3). The arms 22 and 24 are normally influenced downwardly by gravity to permit lowering of the racks, and said arms are actuated upwardly by a crank arm 25 connected at one end to a stub shaft 26 and hav ing a roller 27 at the other end underlying the free end of the arm 24 (Figures 4 and 7). An operating lever or handle 28 is rigidly connected to the other end of the stud shaft 26 at the outside of the front frame bar 1 for swinging the crank arm 25. When the crank arm 25 is swung upwardly into the vertical position as shown in Figure 4, it raises the arms 24 and 22 and the corresponding studs 11 and .12 so as to raise the corresponding card rack into its normal position above the plane of the top of the selector, and the parts are yieldingly locked in this position to prevent accidental dropping of the card racks, for example by vibration of the frame A. As shown, this lock is effected by forming a depression 29 in the arm 24 into which the roller 27 snaps as the arm 25 reaches its vertical position, and preferably the arm 22 is forced into engagement with the upper flange of the back frame rail 2 so as to place said arm 22 under tension and yieldingly resist movement of the roller 27 at the end of the crank arm 25. I

V In operation of the apparatus, the card racks B Wlll be placed in the frame with their cross bars 10 resting on the respective studs 11 and 12, preferably with said studs in their uppermost positions. The racks could be left in the frame for indefinite periods of time and covered when not in use, or the racks could be removed from the frame at the end of the day and stored in suitable cabinets until it is desired to select or segregate certain cards from the rack whereupon the rack could be placed in the frame 1 6 will be actuated and the electromagnetic mechanism will be energized to elevate the desired cards as shown by dotted lines in Figure 5, whereupon the cards may be easily gripped in the fingers of the operator for removal from the rack if desired. After the selecting operation has been completed, the lever 28 will be operated again and in the opposite direction to swing the crank arm 25 upwardly into the solid line position of Figure 4 and thus elevate the card rack and cards into their normal posi tion to permit the selector to be rolled along the frame to the next selected card rack.

While I have shown and described the invention as embodying certain structural details, it should be understood that the construction of the apparatus may be widely modified and changed within the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. Card selecting apparatus including a frame having spaced elongated front and rear horizontal bars, a plurality of card-containing racks disposed between said frame bars in spaced relation longitudinally thereof, supporting and manipulating mechanism for each rack comprising means mounted on and between said horizontal bars and supporting the corresponding card-containing rack at the ends thereof, and means including said supporting means for moving said rack up and down in said frame from a normal upper position to a lower positidh, a card-selector including mechanism coactive with portions of the cards at the bottom of any of said racks when the rack and the card selector are in card-selecting relation to each other with the rack in its lower position and with the selector disposed beneath the rack, and a carriage supporting said card selector and mounted on and between said front and rear horizontal bars beneath said rack supporting and manipulating mechanism to move longitudinally of said bars, providing for selective location of the card selector beneath any of said racks and for movement of any rack at the will of the operator from its normal upper position into its lower position to dispose its cards in card-selecting relation to said card selector, the rack supporting and manipulating mechanism including a rock shaft journaled in said bars for each rack and having a laterally extending rack-support arm at each end, and cooperative parts on said arms and the corresponding rack for supporting said rack in said frame, and means for rotating each of said rock shafts to lower and raise said racks.

2. Card selecting apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein there is a stud on each of said rack-support arms extending toward the other arm, and each rack has a cross bar at each end to set by gravity on one of said studs.

3. Card selecting apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein there is a stud on each of said rack-support arms extending toward the other arm, and each rack has a cross bar at each end to set by gravity on one of said studs and with the addition of guides on said frame for each rack to prevent tilting of said racks on said studs.

4. Card selecting apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for rotating each of said rock shafts includes a stub shaft for each rack journaled in said front bar, a crank arm connected at one end to said stub shaft at the inner side of said bar with its other end underlying the corresponding rack-support arm to swing the latter up and down upon rotation of said stub shaft, and a handle connected to said stub shaft at the outer side of said frame bar.

5. Card selecting apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein there is a stud on each of said rack-support arms extending toward the other arm, and each rack has a cross bar at each end to set by gravity on one of said studs and with the addition of guides on said frame for each rack to prevent tilting of said racks on said studs and wherein said rack-support arm has a depression to receive the second-mentioned end of said crank for releasably locking the rock shaft against rotation in the direction to lower the rack.

6. Card selecting apparatus as definedin claim 1 5 wherein there is, a stud on each of said rack-support arms extending toward the other arm, and each rack has a cross bar at each end to by gravity on one of said studs and with the addition of guides on said frame for each rack to prevent tilting of said racks on said studs and wherein said rack-support arm has a depression to receive the second-mentioned end of said crank for releasably locking the rock shaft against rotation in the direction to lower the rack, and the other rack-support arm is inherently resilient and engageable under pressure with the corresponding frame bar when said rock shaft is rotated to elevate said rack so that the tension generated in said rack-support arm will yieldingly hold said crank arm in said depression.

7. Card selecting apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said carriage has upwardly extending arms on which are journaled rollers that are rollable along the respective said frame bars, there are notches in one of said frame bars disposed in predetermined relation to each rack in which seat by action of gravity on said car- 20 riage the rollers that are reliable on said one frame b-ar, thereby to index said carriage in card-segregating relation beneath each of said racks.

8. Card selecting apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said carriage is channel-shaped and has a pair of upstanding arms at each end thereof on each of which is journaled a roller that rollably engages one of said frame bars so that said carriage depends from said frame bars, and said card selector is slidable endwise into and out of said channel shaped carriage through one end thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,662,535 Nevin Mar 13, 1928 2,645,226 Walker et al July 14, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 844,775 France May 1, 1939 

